This crag may lie on DOE property; by climbing here you may be trespassing

Description

The Hospital Crag is a relatively short section of rhyolitic tuff located on the north side of Los Alamos Canyon, immediately east of the Omega bridge. The rock quality here is generally poor, but there are a few fun 35-40 foot sport climbs here. Just beware that the rock here is soft. The plus side to this location is that the hospital is just up the hill.

Getting There

There are several ways to approach the crag. You may park at the Los Alamos Medical Center or, if that's too much walking, you can drive south from the intersection of Trinity and Diamond Drive and turn right onto West Road. Take an immediate left and follow that road back east underneath the Omega bridge. Parking here may be limited. One can walk down toward Omega Road and turn left onto a small trail leading east underneath the bridge. Just after passing under the bridge, turn left again and head up to the cliffs. You can also access the crag from the cliffs above, but it involves a bit of bushwhacking over steep, loose terrain and you may have to search for a safe passage to the base of the cliffs.

Some may want to stand on the boulder to clip the first bolt, others may want to stick clip it. It's not too high up, but as was mentioned before, the rock is soft and prone to breaking, so be protected. Fun movement on large holds keep your attention all the way to the anchors. ...[more]Browse More Classics in NM

I would give all the routes at this crag one star or less. The rock is really bad. You are better off to go to upper LA Canyon where the rock is better and the routes are better, and you won't be harrassed by the bridge nazis.

A few years ago a friend of mine (from Los Alamos) and I were going to climb what I think must be these routes near the big bridge, when several of the security officers for the science lab there in town pulled up with flashing lights on their big SUVs and stopped us and made us show them our IDs and then they told us to leave because the bridge was a "security risk". They actually escorted our cars to the top of the hill to the stop light!

Luke and I bolted these in the mid-90s sometime. The rock is crud, the location sucks (especially nowadays) and someone should probably go yank the hangers and use them for something more worthy (no, seriously, they're my hangers, go take them).